The new study reportedly suggests that the ancient reptile in question was an aquatic ambush predator whose quarry were fish and squid.
Scientists studying the ancient history of our planet have recently managed to gain further insight into the nature of a reptilian creature that existed on Earth during the Triassic period, tens of millions years ago.
As CNN points out, while the creature in question, called Tanystropheus and “resembling a real-life Loch Ness Monster or a prehistoric crocodile crossed with a giraffe”, was first described back in the 19th century and first reconstructed in 1973, much about this creature remained unknown, such as whether it dwelt on land or in the water, what its young looked like, etc.
Having employed computed tomography to study the fossilized remains of these creatures, the researchers established that the skull anatomy and nostrils’ placement of the 20-foot long creature whose neck “was half of its entire length”, show “characteristics of an aquatic animal”, with further evidence suggesting that it was an “ambush predator”.
The researchers also determined that smaller fossils that was previously thought to have belonged to a baby Tanystropheus, actually belonged to a different species that were only 4-feet long.
Lead study author Stephan Spiekman, an expert in Triassic reptile evolution at the University of Zurich, also explained that “the small species likely fed on small shelled animals, like shrimp, in contrast to the fish and squid the large species ate”, Science Alert notes.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
